Hands-On: The Blue Lagoon ‘Samurai’ And ‘Turtle,’ Two New Limited Edition Seiko Prospex Divers (References SRPB09 And SRPB11)
It is usually sign of good things when a watch gets a nickname; just think about the “Paul Newman” Daytona or the Speedmaster “Ed White.” Seiko’s family of divers has also inspired many watch enthusiasts to come up with creative monikers, which explains why we are going to review the latest “Samurai” and “Turtle,” both iconic Japanese divers in their own rights. These two limited editions in a new “Blue Lagoon” colorway (references SRPB09 and SRPB11) are being officially released in February 2017, but we had the chance to handle some prototypes and to compare them with their beloved predecessors.
While we mortals take our time recovering from NYE, happy to simply roll our eyes at returning to work in clothes that are a little more snug than before all the mince pies, our thoughts should go out to the poor celebs. There’s no waddling around in stretchy pants for them, while finishing off the last few Ferrero Rocher. Instead, this is the time of year when they need to look as sleek and velvety as glistening otters, as awards season kicks off with the 74th Golden Globes, which took place just hours ago in Beverly Hills. It’s a circus of the highest order, full of drama, disappointment, outrageous wardrobe choices and speeches spiked with champagne-fuelled politics. But for nerds like us, it’s a simpler world. We can turn a blind eye all that, and view the spectacle in its purest form: as a prime opportunity for watchspotting. If you want to know who won Best Original Score, you’ve come to the wrong place. But here are the finalists for Most Creative Timepiece in a Red Carpet Scenario. Joel Edgerton We Australians love to see one of our own representing the land Down Under in Hollywood, and for our international readers who might not understand this village-like level of…
Time for the final leg of our tour of the best ‘affordable’ watches of 2016. We’re now at the upper end, at that fun little sweet spot where things start to get really interesting, with some serious in-house movements on offer, and amazing solid designs. It’s the upper limit for many people, so a lot of these options are less disposable and more ‘one good watch’. We’ve snuck a few pieces in that are priced just north of 5k, because we’re devious like that. And of course, if you wanted to spend a few (hundred/thousand) dollars more, the sky’s the limit, but we had to end this somewhere. Longines Avigation Type A-7 The words ‘value’ or ‘bargain’ don’t frequently come up when talking about a watch that’s getting close to $5k, but they’re totally applicable in the case of the Longines Avigation. It takes the heritage charm we loved in their 1918 model from Basel last year, and adds a monopusher chronograph in an offset case similar to the Vacheron Historiques American pieces – but for about a fifth the price. That’s a big win in our books. The darkness of the faux-patina indices might be a little heavy-handed, but overall it’s a…